


bright as lightning and twice as dangerous

by helsinkibaby



Category: NCIS
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fighting, Missing Scene, Pre Relationship, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 20:12:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16182341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Charlie and Luis have a fight. So do Nick and Ellie.





	bright as lightning and twice as dangerous

**Author's Note:**

> For Fictober day 3, prompt “how can I trust you?”  
> Missing scene from “High Tide”

Ellie is quiet the whole way to the boat shop, her jaw clenched so tightly that even looking at her is enough to make Nick’s own jaw ache. Which Nick understands, even if he thinks he did the right thing, even if he’d do exactly the same thing again. 

Of course, she knows that too. It’s probably pissing her off even more. 

They park up at the marina and she’s out of the car and stalking across the parking lot before he has a chance to say anything and he has to run to catch up with her. It only takes a couple of seconds - he’s always been fast - and he doesn’t think twice about curling his fingers around her wrist to stop her movement. It’s a light enough grip, she could break it easily, but anyone who might be watching them won’t know that. “Hey, Charlie, wait up.” He goes straight into character, just in case, but the words make anger flash through Ellie’s eyes, bright as lightning and twice as dangerous. Still, in for a penny and all that. “Why you so mad, girl?” 

“Mad? Mad?” It’s Charlie’s voice but he knows from the look on her face that the words are all Ellie. “You really have to ask that?” 

“Look, I explained-”

She doesn’t let him finish, lifts their joined arms and brings hers down quickly, breaking his grip way more violently than he would have expected. “You left me! And you lied to me! I came out of the hospital and I didn’t have a clue where you were! We’re supposed to be a team, Luis, you don’t do shit like that.” 

He doesn’t think he’s ever heard Ellie swear before. He’s not entirely sure that this is her getting into character either. “I saw an opportunity,” he says but the words seem a little more hollow than they did a couple of hours ago. Because now he’s looking into her eyes and he’s seeing not just anger there but a hefty dose of hurt. 

“And how do I know that the next time you see an ‘opportunity’-” She makes air quotes around the word. “-You won’t do the exact same thing? How can I trust you?”

The words hit him like a punch to the gut because he knows that’s not Charlie talking. That’s Ellie. “C’mon, B... baby.” He stumbles over what to call her, hopes that no-one’s listening, that if they are, they’ll take him as a guy who doesn’t know what to say when his woman calls him out on his shit. Which really isn’t too far from the truth but he’s not going there. He’s not. “You know better than that.” 

She huffs out a breath of air, looks heavenward with rolled eyes and he acts without thinking. His left hand reaches out and grabs her right, while his right hand goes up, brushes the wisps of hair from the front of her ponytail back behind her ear. “You’re the last person I’d ever let down,” he tells her, his voice low. He feels the goosebumps that erupt along her arm, feels the shiver that runs down her body and he doesn’t miss the way her eyes drop to his lips. Acting once more on instinct, he does what he knows Luis would do, moves his hand to the back of her head and draws her closer as he leans in and brings his lips to hers. 

He moves slowly, knowing he could be in a world of trouble over this, keeping his grip light so that once again she could break it if she wants to. 

She doesn’t. 

The touch is light, brief, but he feels it sparking electricity all the way down his spine. Her eyes, he notices, are closed, only opening when his palm caresses her cheek. “We good here?” 

It’s Luis’s voice, but the words are all Nick. 

Ellie nods. Charlie lifts an eyebrow. “Don’t ever do that to me again, you hear me?”

He chuckles. “I hear you. Now, c’mon. We got a job interview to attend.”

Slinging his arm around her shoulder, they make their way across to the boat shop. Time to go to work.


End file.
